Bloodcrusher

A Bloodcrusher is one of the the members of the shock cavalry of Khorne's daemonicBlood Legions, a deadly combination of Bloodletter rider and Juggernaut steed. The daemonic mounts of Khorne are neither beasts nor machines, but daemonic fusions of both. They are massive creatures whose flesh is brass, whose sinews are iron and whose blood is fire. Their breath is fear and their every step is thunder. As Juggernauts prepare to charge, they roar with the fury of a thousand dead souls. Said to be the most brutal of all the Blood God's many daemons, they are reflections of their creator's aggression, unstoppable force and mindless violence made manifest.

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Role

Only the most favoured of Khorne's daemonic followers are granted the boon of a Juggernaut to ride to battle. Such an undertaking is not for the weak, for a Bloodletter must drag forth its chosen mount from the Blood God's stockade and survive long enough to break the homicidal steed. Many an aspiring daemon has leapt upon the back of an enraged Juggernaut, only to be thrown and crushed into an unrecognisable smear. However, once mastered, a Juggernaut becomes the most lethal of all war-mounts. Small arms fire patters harmlessly from its hide, merely serving to enrage the daemonic beast further. Only the heaviest weapons have a chance of piercing its armoured skin, and by the time such armaments are brought to bear, it is usually too late.

Once the armoured cavalry of Khorne begin their lumbering charge, nothing can deter them from their course. With broad heads lowered and powerful legs pistoning them ever onwards, Bloodcrushers are likened to unstoppable battering rams, momentum embodied. They smash their way through stone walls and steel barricades alike without ever slowing down. Sparks cascade in their wake as they batter through obstacles, lowering their bladed and brutal heads for the collision they know is coming. The ground itself shakes with fear under the daemonic cavalry's heavy treads and, directed by the murderous intent of the Bloodletters atop them, they crash into their terrified foes with the force of gigantic sledgehammers, sending lifeless bodies flying in all directions and trampling underfoot anything foolish enough to remain in their way.

Once embroiled in the press of combat, Juggernauts will crush those that stand before them with the ease of a man wading through long grass, each new kill coating their legs with fresh blood and gore. Horns gashing and gutting, teeth gouging and tearing, the daemonic mounts bull their way through any melee. From their broad backs the Bloodletters bring their Hellblades down in great arcs to behead those enemies still standing. Bloodcrushers take no prisoners and show no mercy -- all are fodder to their insatiable appetite for slaughter.

Bloodcrushers can be found in any of Khorne's armies, used as a bludgeoning wedge to break enemy battle lines or smash through fortifications. The Brazen Thunder Legions are particularly formidable, for they are based upon cohorts made up of Bloodcrushers and led by the mounted Heralds of Khorne known as "Skullmasters." Their earth-shaking stampedes create the bass sound for which these legions are named, a gut-churning reverberation that has eroded the resolve and sanity of many great warriors and generals. Any brave or foolish enough to stand their ground in the face of this stampede are crushed beneath the pitiless brass hooves of the cavalry of Khorne. Entire Astra Militarum tank companies are as nothing to them. Their wrecking-ball charges have levelled fortresses, flattened Exodite temples and brought down Imperial Knights. While a single pack of Bloodcrushers can annihilate an army, an entire legion of them can decimate a world.